P n e u mat ic c a r ri age for ordnance



' (No Model'.)

A J. A. POWLETT.

PNEUMATIC CARRIAGE FOE ORDNANGE.

A No. 339,466, PatentedApnG, 1886.

JAIL."

. 7 WITNESSES I I NVENTOR Wkflwg iifnirra rn'ras 'nrar tries,

Janus A. rowrnrr, on NEW YORK, N. r, rissic non, Br manor AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, ro THE PNEUMATIC GUN onnamon COMPANY, o

[BALTIMORE], MARYLAND. j

N M T C'ARRiA'q-E FOR O'RDNANCE.

, SPECIFICATION forming part'of'Le'ttersl atent No. 339,466; dated April 6, 1886.

Application filed July SI, 1884. Renewed February 7, 189 5. 'Againrcnewcd September 21, R85.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, JAMES ALBERT Pow- LETT, of the city, county, and State-of New York, have invented a new and useful 1m- 5 proveinent in Pneumatic Machine-Gun Carriages, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification, referencebeing had to the accompian'yingdrawings;

This invention relates to means for operating guns and gun-carriages.

Herctofore' guns and gun-carriages have been operated by hydraulic power and also by steam-power, and in the employment of these-the gun has been moved out or to-bat- 15 tery'and movediny'h'as been elevated and dcpressed and traversed, and it has also been attempted to take up the recoil of the gun in hydraulic mechanism by the intervention of water, and, in connection therewith, of an airzoc11shion;but in no case, so far as known, has compressed 'air alone been employed as the sole motive and checking power in operating ordnance, thus to' constitute in the true sense a purely pneumatic device.

The objectof thisinvention, then,is to utilize compressedair, or any suitable gas or elastic fluid, designated hereinafter as an aeriform' fluid. as distinguished from steam, and by the employment or this to provide simple and less complicatedmeansthan heretofore employed for operating heavy guns and gun-carriages, which means shall be immediate, direct, reliable, and certainin' operation, andenable. the positi'onlogaguntobe changed in theshortest' possible time; The object is, further,to provide mechanismqirhich shall be so protected as to be safe from; injury in an reng'agement, and whereby heavy guns may be manipulated by a much smaller'iiumber of men than has heretofore been requisite, and, finally, the object is to produce novelmeans whereby a cushion.

is provided by which the force recoil of the gun is taken up.

To these ends the invention consists in the combinatiomwith a gun-carriage,,of.a cylinder 'or cylinders provided with pistons, and supplied with a suitable fluid under pressure to operate them, and, through their rods, to run the gun-outer in; furthermore, in the comexerted by the Serial No. 177,776. (No model.)

binatio'npvith a gun-carriage, of a cylinder 01" 5o cylinders similarly provided and supplied to traverse the gun; furthermore, in the combination, with a gun-carriage, of a cylinder or cylinders similarly provided and supplied to elevate and depress the gun; and, iinally, in 5 the combinatiomwith a gun'carriage and gun,

. ofa body of confined compressible fluid,which takes the force of the recoil oi'thc gun, acting as a buffer. I

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a gun-carriage and gun thereon, showing in section and in detail an embodiment of that part of the invention by which the gun is run in or out; also,'showing"means for elevating and depressing and for traversing. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of therea'r end oil the gun, showing in detail an embodiment of that part of the invention by which the gun is elevated and depressed. Fig. 3 is'a rear elevation of the carriageand gun, showing in section and in detail an embodiment ofthat part of the invention by which the gun is traversed or moved from side to side; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the carriage and gun, showing the invention, particularly the traverse portion adapted to a vessel.

In the drawings, A repr'csenisja gun provided with the usual trunnions, which rest in Sc suitable bearingsin the cheeks of the carriage. The carriage is provided with the usual slide, so that thegun may be runout or to battery or be run in, andisalsoprovided with the usual supportingavhecls,upon which the car- 85. riage traverses.

desired to move the piston of the cylinder.

. Air is furnished to the cylinder through a I supply pipe, E, and branch pipes e, at the 'point of juncture of. which is placed a fourway cock, so arranged as to admit the fluid upon one side of the cylinder and to form an escape-passage upon the other side thereof, for the'escapc of the air confined between the piston and the end of the cylinder, so that the piston may be moved in. either direction to accomplish the desired movement of the gun.

It will be apparent that a cushion of eompressed elastic fluid may be formed for taking Patent, is-

up the recoil of the gun by cutting off the escape through the rear part of the cylinder 0 just before the gun is iired. This willeause the air or other elastic fluid which is confined between the end ofithe cylinder and the piston to'beeome compressed as the gun moves back in recoiling, and its elasticity will tend to reduce the shock ofthe recoil.

On land the apparatus for supplying the compressed elastic fluid is placed in a protected position, while on shipboard it is preferably placed below decks, in order to be free from danger in an engagement and offer no obsti'iiction to the manipulation of the gun.

The raising and lowering of the breech of the gun is accomplished by means of the cylinder G",placed upon a suitable part of the gun-carriage, and having the projecting end of the piston-rod connected to the breech of the gun. This cylinder is provided with ports, above and below the piston, through which air is admitted or allowed to escape, according asit is desired to raise the breech and depress the gun or lower the breech and elevate the gun. The fluid under pressure is supplied to this cylin- (ler through the pipe E, and by suitable branch pipes at the point of j uncturc, between which is placed the four-way cock 1)", having the o flerati-nglcver (1- by means of which the port through which the fluid is admitted and that through which it is allowed to escape is controlled and the amount of fluid admitted regulated.

The traversing of the gun is accomplished by means of the two cylinders G0, which are mounted upon the rear portion of the carriage, and have their piston-rods connected to a pin mounted ecceutrieally of one of the supporting-wheels. The cylinders are supplied with compressed fluid from a pipe, E, and branch pipes H and I, the latter being connected to the cylinders respectively above and below the pistons. At the point at which the supply-pipe E and branch pipes H and I join is placed a four-way cock, I), so constructed as to be capable of being turned to allow the inlet of the compressed fluid to either of the supply pipes simultaneously with the outlet of the same from the other.

Having thus described my inventiomwhatl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters 1. In mechanism for operating guns, the

combination, with the gun-carriage and with a supply or reservoir of compressed aeriform fluid, of a cylinder provided with suitable in let or exhaust ports, and having its piston connected with the carriage, whereby a gun may be run out or to battery pr, be run in entirely by pneumatic p ressure, ,astdescribed.

2. In mechanism for operating guns, the combination, with the supporting-frame of the gun-carriage and with a supply or reservoir of compressed acrilorm llu'id, of a cylinderv located beneaththe gun, andthus protected I and having its piston rod l connected to the,

sliding portion .of the earriallre and 'prdv i ded with suitable ports for the admission and dis eharge of compressed aerilorm fluid, of conduits for conducting such compressed fluid to the cylinder and conveyilng it away til erefrom, and of means for controlling the flow of the fluid, whereby the deviee is operated by compressed aeriform liuid alone. substantially as set forth.

3. As a means of travcrsinig a gun-carriage, two cylinders mounted upon the ca'aiage and having their piston-rods connected to a crank upon one of the supportin -wheels, the said cylinders being provided ith inlet and outlet ports and suitable means for regulating the inlet and outlet of compressed fluid by which the pistons are operated.

4. In mechanism for operultihg guns, the combination, with the gun-ca 'iiage and with a supply or reservoir of eomph hssed ,aeriform fluid, of a cylinder provided 'on opposite sides of the piston with inlet and cxT'haust ports, and having its piston connected tot the breech of the gun, whereby a gun may be directly elevated or directly depressed entire] 'bypneir matic pressure, substantially as'de' cribed.

5. In combination with a gunc rriage or gun, and with a supply or reservoir of compressed acril'orm iluid, of a cylirhlefcontaining a body of compressible acrifor'in fluid, and valve mechanism to admit such fluidto either side 01' the piston to act as a butter and counter-cheek, substantially as described (5. In mechanism for operating guns combination, with a gun-carriage and gun and with a supply or reservoir of compresseotw vided with suitable inlet or exhaust ports, and having the piston or pistons connected to the part to be operated, of conduits for conducting the compressed acril'orm fluid to the cylinder or, cylinders, means for controlling the flow of such fluid, and a reversing cock or cocks, whereby the compressed aeriform fluid may be admitted to either side of a piston and allowed to escape from the other, substantially as described.

JAMES A. POWLETT.

. Witnesses:

FRED. P. SMITH, JAMES E. RAY. 

